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Summary: "The Marilyn Diaries" an absolute original
Review: The writing is so damn good and the ideas so clever and imaginative I suspect there will soon be a whole assembly line of similar novels on Marilyn Monroe borrowing from Casillo's very original and unique vision and format. A fantasy "what might have been" book which gives us an idea of what might have been discovered about her life had Monroe's notebooks survived. The imagined encounters with Jacqueline Kennedy, Monty Clift, Elizabeth Taylor and especially John F. Kennedy are absolutely superb.Casillo tells Monroe's story through fictitious journal entries, correspondences, doodles, notes and jotted down fragments. By the end you feel as if you really stumbled across her private papers and whatever your feelings for her were before reading the book, by the end she is the long lost love you will be longing for.
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Summary: lovely
Review: this book is well done he done his homework on MM he must love this star,
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Summary: The Marilyn Diaries VS. Blonde
Review: This boy has real talent. "The Marilyn Diaries," is more than just a harrowing journey into the mind of Marilyn Monroe. Even if you have no interest in Monroe, the novel has a lot to say about loneliness, fear of aging, broken dreams, burning ambition and so much more. Anyone with an ounce of sensitivity, anyone who knows the pain of a broken heart, anyone who has experienced insecurity can't help but be touched by these pages. The painful wounds in this novel will correspond with every vulnerability you secretly hide within your own heart. I thought it was a masterful work. A previous reviewer mentioned that she couldn't understand why Joyce Carol Oates book (with a similar theme)"Blonde" has gotten so much publicity, while Charles Casillo's "The Marilyn Diaries" has not gotten much media attention. I really think that a lot of the public feels that a recognizable name means quality;like they need to be told that something is good before they invest their time in it. That is a shame because "Blonde" is a much, much inferior work, and when Charles Casillo becomes more well known I feel confident that people will be jumping on his bandwagon. Take my word for it, read "The Marilyn Diaries," it will awaken emotions in you rarely brought out from reading a work of fiction
Rating:
Summary: The Marilyn Diaries VS. Blonde
Review: This boy has real talent. "The Marilyn Diaries," is more than just a harrowing journey into the mind of Marilyn Monroe. Even if you have no interest in Monroe, the novel has a lot to say about loneliness, fear of aging, broken dreams, burning ambition and so much more. Anyone with an ounce of sensitivity, anyone who knows the pain of a broken heart, anyone who has experienced insecurity can't help but be touched by these pages. The painful wounds in this novel will correspond with every vulnerability you secretly hide within your own heart. I thought it was a masterful work. A previous reviewer mentioned that she couldn't understand why Joyce Carol Oates book (with a similar theme)"Blonde" has gotten so much publicity, while Charles Casillo's "The Marilyn Diaries" has not gotten much media attention. I really think that a lot of the public feels that a recognizable name means quality;like they need to be told that something is good before they invest their time in it. That is a shame because "Blonde" is a much, much inferior work, and when Charles Casillo becomes more well known I feel confident that people will be jumping on his bandwagon. Take my word for it, read "The Marilyn Diaries," it will awaken emotions in you rarely brought out from reading a work of fiction
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Summary: Pathos,Marilyn style..
Review: This debut novel by Charles Casillo,at times,hums,prattles,glides,moves and traverses through the many moods of Marilyn,hitting the bulls-eye at its climax. From the beginning of the book,where Marilyn feels giddy and on cloud nine with happiness,we(the reader)feel that on every page thereafter that a delicate layer has been stripped away and we feel her pain and despair..from her liasons with her one true love,JFK,moving on to Bobby,Marlon Brando,Frank Sinatra and an extremely sad orgy scene late in the book,Marilyn is a little girl lost,at odds with her driving ambition and yet unable to find true love. Each page lives and breathes with emotion and whether you are a new fan of Marilyn,as I was, or a die-hard aficionado,this brilliant leap of faith novel will leave you breathless and somewhat sad . Not at the quality of writing,which is first rate,and from which Mr.Casillo should be very proud and ,moreover,to have built a strong base for a first time novelist who eagerly await his next work, but sad at the life snuffed short with so much talent to give .
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Summary: Wonderful story! Great read. Great fun!
Review: This is the best book I have read in a long while. Although I did not know too much about Marilyn Monroe going into this book, I enjoyed every page and finished the book with the feeling of really having gotten to know and understand her much more. The book is very well written and left me wanting more. Her relationship to the Kennedy's , Sinatra, and various other Hollywood "types" is written with style, grace and respect. This would be a great read for anyone interested in Hollywood ,and of course, Marilyn Monroe. There are some very heartbreaking moments, which most of us can relate to. Marilyn Monroe's lonliness and sadness is universal, yet hauntingly, tragic. I think this is a great book and the first of many successes for Charles Casillo. Read it---on the bus---on the beach--on your couch. You won't be sorry you did.
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Summary: The Marilyn Diaries
Review: This is truely a magnificant work. Charles Casillo has managed to capture every fiber of Marilyn Monroe's being. This is a book that is a must for every Marilyn fan. The Marilyn Diaries is a fictional work depicting the missing diary Monroe kept throughout the last years of her life. It is truely remarkable how Charles Casillo has captured what might have been her every thought and feeling. I had to put the book down at times to catch my breath. The Marilyn Diaries personifies Marilyn Monroe. She is seen too much as just a character, and not someone who actually was a living, breathing being. Mr. Casillo has certainly written the finest work of fiction ever about Marilyn Monroe. You can not put this book down once you start reading it!
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Summary: A thoroughly fascinating book
Review: Well, he is pretty amazing. Without a doubt a gifted writer. In spots Charles Casillo's "The Marilyn Diaries" is some of the best contemporary fiction I've read in a long time. But I'm still undecided about all these writers using real life people as character's in fiction. On the negative side, it's really not fair to take someone who actually lived and put them in imaginary situations. What if someone who knows nothing about Marilyn picks up a book like this and thinks it's all true? On the positive side you can tell the author really loves Marilyn and he treats her with respect, although by no means does she come across as a saint. In the course of the book her emotions go from optimistic to anguish. At times she is naive at other times she is cunning. She is triumphant and tragic. Confident and fearful. Ultimately the character is as enigmatic as Marilyn Monroe must have been (and yes, there are certain things I feel he should have left out). Yet, after awhile you have to keep reminding yourself, "it's not really her diary - it's all made up" Casillo is really an artist. But if he was just writing about some fictional actress instead of using the name "Marilyn Monroe" it would have been just as fascinating.
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Summary: Obesessed with Marilyn and this book
Review: Well, I just finished reading The Marilyn Diaries. First I ahve to say that I've been fascinated with Marilyn Monroe since childhood and I picked up my first book about her when I was in my early teens. There are so many different opinions about her from a variety of sources but through the years I've managed to come up with my own version of what she must have been like in real life. But this novel is written from her viewpoint which is rarely heard. I was stunned! I thought I knew all about Marilyn Monroe but The Marilyn Diaries put everything I felt about Marilyn into words and went beyond anything I ever imagined. Some of the things that the author imagined for her made me extremely uncomfortable but by the end I saw that it was a mosaic of a very complicated person and the different pieces to her puzzle are what keep us fascinated. No book illustrates her complexities like this one does. I must say that I put the book down completely and utterly shattered. Now I feel as if I've known Marilyn pesonally and I'm all the more obssessed with her.
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Summary: "Marilyn Diaries" FAR Superior to bottled "Blonde"
Review: Why the book "Blonde" by Joyce Carol Oates has gotten more publicity than "The Marilyn Diaries," is beyond me. I was enthralled by this portrait of Marilyn Monroe; I dismissed "Blonde" for the garbage that it is after about 100 pages into it - what the hell is Oates talking about? Meanwhile, I devoured "The Marilyn Diaries." It's not that Casillo's portrayal has less sex or vulgarity (I assume that any "Hollywood star's life would have a fair share of that) - it's that her humanity, vulnerability and intelligence always come through as well. In this book Marilyn comes across as an extremely complicated individual with good points and bad points - but while reading her thoughts, as interpreted by the author, you start to feel why she was such a compelling figure. Casillo didn't feel the need to heap unnecessary abuse and degradation on Monroe in order to make her interesting - instead he created fascinating feelings for her: about love, sex, acting, loneliness and life in general. I guess it takes a very good writer to create a fascinating character. For my money Casillo's got it. Oates doesn't.
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